Blueberries - OH MY

So I LOVE blueberries... ok - berries in general :) But today - I'm bringing you several delicious blueberry recipes... what can I say, I had blueberries on the brain :)

Before I go into my blueberry novel - I have to share a picture of a flower... it's got nothing to do with blueberries, but it's one of my new favorites! It's called a Lizzy - the purple Lizzy is just such a dark, rich purple - it's absolutely beautiful. I also think it looks a bit like a rose in bloom although when fully open you can tell it's something different. It smells lovely and is just an overall great flower if you ask me :) So here are a few pictures of one... and since it's purple - it kind of goes with the whole blueberry thing... right???

And now - onto the blueberries!

First, I had seen blueberries dipped in yogurt on Pinterest and figured it looked like a yummy snack. One of my friends has always said how much she loves frozen blueberries - so frozen blueberries dipped in yogurt would have to be yummy to... right?? RIGHT!

I thought I had pinned it, but I didn't so I can't link the page I originally found. However, I found a similar link and figured I'd share it since I definitely can't take credit for the idea.

I used vanilla greek yogurt and a toothpick. After dipping them into the yogurt, I used another toothpick to push each blueberry off it's toothpick and onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. I'd recommend freezing them for 10 - 20 minutes before plucking them off the cookie sheet and putting them in an airtight container. I had left them in a bit long (over an hour) and I could see the yogurt starting to dry out on some, you can notice the slight difference in the photo. Thankfully they were still yummy :) I checked out a few sites and they all seem to say they're usually frozen enough to touch by 10 - 15 minutes, but when I had checked at 15 they were still a little melty which is why I left them alone. Problem was I forgot about them... oops! So just keep an eye on them as it most likely varies by freezer. Once you can remove them without them melting - you're good to go. And then you have great little, healthy snack.

I had been craving something sweet, but didn't want it overly unhealthy... After staring in my pantry searching for answers, I grabbed a package of Tapioca Pearls and pretty much followed the package directions. I swapped out the sugar for honey and used vanilla soy milk. After it was done cooking I mixed in two teaspoons vanilla and two tablespoons blueberry preserves. If you don't have blueberry preserves, and you wanted to make the blueberry yogurt below, you could use some of the remaining blueberry chunks that are strained out. You could also make a smaller batch of the blueberry sauce (1 part blueberries to 1/3 part sugar simmered over low) and use it strained or unstrained.

Sadly since the yogurt is always a cream color - adding the blueberry preserves made it a little greyish. The more blueberry you add, the more purple you will get. You could also add some purple coloring, but it could start to look artificial depending on how much you add. 

I wasn't so sure about flavoring the tapioca so I kept it light, but like I said, I've had blueberries on the brain lately so I had to try it. I topped it with a few blueberries and enjoyed it for my sweet tooth fix after work. If you like blueberries and tapioca (I realize the texture is not for everyone), this one may be worth a shot. It makes a yummy snack with just the right amount of sweetness. 

And my most recent creation... BLUEBERRY FROZEN YOGURT! I've made this a few times now... tweeking my ingredients and cooking methods. I've used blenders, the stove, strainers and no strainers... And I am happy to say I've finally perfected this to a beautifully creamy, smooth, yummy dessert!

In all honesty, you could just make the blueberry yogurt and not freeze it and have a VERY good breakfast or snack. It's good either way. And that's part of the reason I love what it's come out to - it's great frozen and if you don't eat it fast enough - the melty stuff is also delish!

Since this one doesn't come from a recipe I found, here's a full explanation of what I did to get this yummy treat.

3       Cups Vanilla Greek Yogurt
1/2    Cup   Sugar
1 1/2 Cups Blueberries
1       Tbl.   Honey

In a small saucepan, combine sugar and blueberries. Simmer over low stirring occasionally for 15 - 20 minutes, you'll have a thick blueberry sauce. Strain your blueberry mixture so that you remove the remaining chunks of blueberries.

Mix your blueberry syrup with the yogurt and honey.

Refrigerate at least one hour, or cover and refrigerate overnight.

Turn on ice cream maker, stir your yogurt mixture one more time and then pour into ice cream maker.

Allow it to mix for 15 - 20 minutes. And now it's ready to be enjoyed! If you'd like a firmer frozen yogurt, move to an airtight container and allow to freeze a bit longer.

Silky smooth and OH SO GOOD!!

If you don't have an ice cream maker but would like a frozen yogurt treat, you could take this blueberry yogurt mixture and make frozen yogurt dots with it. The how to for the dots can be found here.

I've also made a Lemon Blueberry Loaf - though I don't have a photo. I'm horrible at following directions to a T - and I did change a few things, but I feel safe in saying that if you follow the directions this will still be very yummy! My main changes were using vanilla greek yogurt (it really is my go to yogurt if you haven't noticed :) ) and I used some of the extra lemon syrup I had instead of water in the glaze. I also swapped out the veg oil with coconut oil. And to tie the coconut in a little more - I did sprinkle coconut flakes on top of the glaze. Personally, I thought this made for a yummy breakfast or mid-day snack.

Well, those are all my recent blueberry adventures. I hope you enjoy!